I wondered about that tune being released in 1962. Did we already have troops deployed to Nam then, or was his song about Korea or WW2? ps: I got a history, too. Thank goodness we referr to it as "history."
From Wikipedia... "Vinton began writing the song in the late 1950s, while serving in the Army.[3] The song describes a soldier who is sent overseas and has no communication with his home. The singer laments his condition and wishes for someone to talk with.[4] The single of Vinton's recording was released just as the Vietnam War was escalating and many soldiers were experiencing a similar situation.[5] Vinton's version was noted for his sobbing emotionally during the second verse. Vinton and Gene Allan later re-teamed to compose "Coming Home Soldier", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1967.[6]"
Roy Orbison's "Only The Lonely" hit the national charts March-May 1960 not to be confused with the JD Souther 1979 song "You're Only Lonely." Both great songs.
I don't see participating in forums as being a good way to fight loneliness. I don't see loneliness as a case of just missing interaction with people. It's more a case of thinking that no one really gives a hoot. You can be lonely in a group of people. You can be all by yourself and not feel lonely. .
"No one really give a hoot" turns more into anger/mad than loneliness. As far as "lonely in a group of people", well, if the group doesn't have the same interests, or close to them, that the person does, they shouldn't be in that group in the first place. There are a few times, during the year, that some people that are all by themselves, can definitely feel lonely: Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve. That's why, while I was single/divorced, I really didn't celebrate any of those days. But, after I met my wife, all of that changed. She got me very much into all of them and I was very happy she did. IOW, I was never/ever meant to be a single guy, with the exception of the years I was in the Navy. I wasn't about to have a girlfriend or wife on a pier waving me "goodbye" as my ship was pulling out for Vietnam.
I think the "no one cares" is more of a symptom of depression. Lonely is more of a state of mind, so it is possible (and quite common) to feel alone in a group of people. I'm often by myself and seldom feel lonely, but I know sooner or later someone will come home or call to check on me. Just knowing that may be why I'm not lonely. I believe participating in forums gives a person a feeling of belonging, where relationships can definitely be cultivated. For me personally, coming here to check in with familiar avatars is like a meet up with friends. It's human interaction, whether joking, arguing, or just discussing things. Otherwise, why not simply write a journal and forget forums?
It's best to share loneliness if you can.....if not, then share loneliness with a Jack & Coke! Ricardo Eschieverra
It's more a case of thinking knowing that no one really gives a hoot. Or that their hoot comes with conditions.
I was going to tell the story of a time when I felt lonely, although I think there's a word that would more accurately describe the emotion, but I can't think of it, then I realized that I had already told that story in a thread that didn't go anywhere, so I'll quote it here. Thread: Hitchhiking
That sounds more like "isolated." I live alone and don't have friends here, but I have neighbors, people at church, a guy who owns his own business where I'll stop and chat for a couple of hours, and then all the folks working where I shop. So these are familiar surroundings with familiars faces, not being out as you were, Ken. Of course, many states of being are relative to one's expectations. And there can always be something wrong even after we get what we [think we] want.
Loneliness was a part of it, but the way that I was feeling at that time was probably akin to what a homeless person might feel as he reflects upon his life. I began hitchhiking around the country as an adventure and, for the most part, it was, but here I was, all by myself, and sleeping in a culvert, surrounded by trash. What the hell was I doing? That was near the end of my hitchhiking days, I think.
Untethered and not connected to a damn thing, huh? Feels unsafe to me. That's one reason I like owning a home. It's a place I cannot be dislodged from. It's "secure." It's a base from which I can have my life. Interesting how that single experience out of the many you must have had when on that adventure is the one that had such an effect. Now I see how why you have such an attachment to the work your wife is doing. The things we have had and the things we have not had can all give us empathy for others...if we're doing it right
John, you are perceptive. I chose those 2 words ("thinking" and "hoot") carefully. "Knowing" implies no one cares. That's not true. A lot of people care. Hoot was meant as a substitute for something that might have sounded like whining. I don't do whining, or pouting.